Keep On, Keeping On

October 29, 2012

There were times I began to feel almost obligated to give my key away; seeing struggles others were facing made me think that I was being selfish by holding onto my strength key. I moved almost a thousand miles away from home about six months ago and had this plan in my mind that before I left I would give it to my mother. When the time came to say goodbye to my family with the chain around my neck, I simply couldn’t let go. I knew that in the upcoming months I would need it, something to hold onto when everything else was gone.
As time passed, there were days I’d wake up and immediately grab my strength key believing that it would make things easier. It did to some extent, as a sort of good luck charm that gave me the confidence to be as strong as I would need to be. But what I learned throughout those situations is that the characteristic I originally longed to acquire from wearing the necklace was an extension of the strength I already possessed. The qualities we all want to get from our keys are ours now but we just don’t see it.
On my first drive home after being away for months I learned my grandmother had slipped on black ice, broken her femur, and was in the hospital. I was told she would need surgery the following day and wouldn’t be out of rehab in time for Christmas. When I saw her after surgery, needless to say she was drugged up and not in a healthy state of mind. She was convinced she was dying and that everything around her was wrong, horrible, and painful. All I could do at that point was tell her that what she was feeling was normal and that unfortunately, it takes time to heal all wounds. I took my key off and told her that I needed her to hold onto it for me, and that it would help.
She doesn’t remember me giving her the key. But after the grogginess of all the medications wore off and she discovered the chain in her hand, she recalled me telling her the story of the Giving Keys about a year ago. She now wears the same chain I used rely on for all that time. I’m not sure if it gives her the same confidence that it as allowed me to see in myself but I have faith that it will. Isn’t that what these are truly about anyhow? We put our faith in symbolic items hoping that we can reach what’s inscribed. What I have realized through my Giving Key is that the powers we most deeply desire are in us already and it’s our job to let others know that they too have theirs. Sometimes, we just need a little reminder.